Mountaintop Farming

Since the spring I have been managing the raspberry crop and kitchen garden of an organic farm in Northern California. This beautiful mountaintop landscape has been producing organic food for over 20 years. Volunteers come to help out for raspberry harvests and learn about seed-to-harvest veggie gardening through the WWOOF program. Sustainable permaculture techniques are built into the farm’s design through water-retaining terraces, soil blocks, permanent no-till beds, intensive polycultures, wildlife corridors, indigenous beneficial microbes, and seed saving projects. Cultivating my local biome to feed the community and teaching others how to do the same is my daily joy.

I am grateful to be continuing my experiences in farming with the warm support of a community that loves small, local organic farms. The Bay Area is fully animated in building a new food system for the USA. More and more people choose to feed their families by supporting nearby small farms. Gardening is taught in schools to young children to build a lifetime of connection to where food comes from. People understand and teach that regenerative agriculture feeds the people in a way that benefits all beings. The drought is here in Northern California along with future unpredictable weather patterns, but the solutions are here as well, and I know in my heart the work I need to do.